Brush assembly



BRUSH ASSEMBLY R. W- RHINEHART ET AL Original Filed Aug. 28, 196? June 30, 1970 INVENTORS RICHARD w. RHlNEHART HENRY L. couu HOWARD E, MORRIS BY BW scfiufl'fle' B ERIDG ATTORNEYS United States Patent BRUSH ASSEMBLY Richard W. Rhinehart, Huntsville, Henry L. Conn,

Athens, and Howard E. Morris, Florence, Ala., assignors to Brown Engineering Company, Inc., Huntsville, Ala., a corporation of California Original application Aug. 28, 1967, Ser. No. 663,694. Divided and this application Nov. 18, 1968, Ser. No.

Int. Cl. A46b 13/04; B605 3/00 US. Cl. 15-21 18 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE RELATED APPLICATION This application is a division of US. patent application 663,694 filed Aug. 28, 1967, now Pat. No. 3,460,177 for Aircraft Washing System.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION This invention relates to a cleaning brush assembly particularly suitable for cleaning large structures such as aircraft although not limited thereto.

An object of the present invention is to provide a brush assembly which may be employed to effectively wash relatively large structures with a minimum of time and labor.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a brush assembly which is adjustable to selectively position it for a desired washing operation or to apply pressure on the surface being washed during operation.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a brush assembly that may be mounted on a mobile unit to be controlled by an operator within the mobile unit.

Achieving the above objects is a brush assembly including a longitudinally extendible and retractable telescoping boom mounted for pivotal movement on a control cabin which may be a mobile unit. Across the forward end of the boom is mounted a brush shaft bearing a pair of brushes which are rotatable by the shaft about an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the boom. In addition to being extendible and retractable in its longitudinal direction, the boom is also retractable about its longitudinal axis to provide a second degree of rotation to the brushes about the longitudinal axis of the boom.

Rotation of the boom is achieved through a rotary hydraulic motor while longitudinal movement of the boom is achieved by a reciprocable fluid motor formed between the boom and an external casing member. Rotation of the brush shaft is achieved through a rotary hydraulic motor connected to the shaft through means of tubular members extending through the boom and geared at the forward end to the brush shaft. T 0 provide a detergent or other Washing fluid for the operation, a plurality of nozzles are connected to the interior of the aforementioned tubular members to dispense the fluid onto the brushes from a source connected to the tubular members.

Pivotal movement of the boom relative to the control "ice cabin is achieved through a reciprocable fluid motor connected between the control cabin and a portion of the boom by a pivoted support structure.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following more detailed description taken in conjunction with the attached drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a brush assembly embodying the present invention with portions of its cleaning brushes broken away and with the front portion of an associated control cabin shown in phantom; and

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the brush assembly illustrating its internal parts and with its brushes shown in phantom.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawing, there is illustrated a brush assembly embodying the invention including washing brushes 2'5 pivotally connected to the front panel of cabin 22 for movement in a vertical plane from a horizontal position either upwardly or downwardly approximately 30. In the shown embodiment, this mounting includes a connecting bar having at its forward end a sleeve bracket 192 fixed about the outer casing 194 of the assembly and having its rear section bifurcated to form two sides 1-96 pivotally mounted about a transverse pin 198 supported in U-shaped brackets 200 fixed to the lower part of cabin panel 105. For pivoting the brush assembly upwardly or downwardly about pin 198, a fluid motor 201 is pivotally supported at its rear in a U-shape bracket 202 anchored by means of an arm 204 with re spect to the cabin panel 105. An additional support strut 205 may be interposed between brackets 200 and 202. Projecting from the forward end of motor 201 is a drive rod 208 with a clevis 210 fixed at its extremity to receive pin 212 which passes through a corner plate 214 received between the arms of clevis 210. Fixed between corner plate 214 and sleeve bracket 192 is a diagonal support strut 216 while a short vertical support strut 218 is fixed between corner plate 214 and a second sleeve bracket 220 secured about casing 194 and to connecting bar 190. When motor 201 is actuated to extend rod 208, the brush assembly will pivot downwardly. Retraction of rod 208 (will cause upward pivoting of the brush assembly. In addition to adjusting the position of the brush assembly, this movement may be employed to apply brush pressure on the aircraft surface being washed.

Referring to FIG. 2 casing 194 of the brush assembly is an elongated barrel or tube which slidably receives an elongated barrel or tube which slidably receives an elongated tubular boom or main brush support 222 that is extendible and retractable along the longitudinal axis of the brush assembly. Boom 222 is telescoped over a positioning tube 224 which projects from the rear of casing 194 where it is operatively connected to a hydraulic motor 226 by means of sprockets 228 and chain 230, to be rotatable for purposes of adjusting the brush assembly. Motor 226 is supported on a bracket including a sleeve 227 fixed about support strut 218.

Transmission of rotation from positioning tube 224 to boom 222 is effected through an elongated key-way 232 formed in positioning tube 224 longitudinally thereof, and key 234 fixed to boorn 222 to slide in the key-way. It will be apparent that while rotation of positioning tube 224 will be imparted to boom 222 through the key connection, boom 222 will be free to move longitudinally relative to positioning tube 224 be-wteen extended and retracted positions; key 234 moving along key-way 232 during this latter movement.

For driving boom 222 between its extended and retracted positions, a fluid motor cylinder is formed between the boom and casing 194. A fluid responsive piston 236 is fixed about the boom in the fluid chamber to divide the fluid chamber in two parts 238 and 240. Motive fluid is introduced and exhausted into chambers 238, 240 by suitable ports 242 and fittings 244 communicating with conduits 246. It will be appreciated that movement of piston rings 236 in one direction in response to introduction of motive fluid into one of the chambers 238, 240, will also cause movement of the boom in the same direction.

To limit longitudinal movement of the boom in either direction, stops in the form of cylindrical members 248 and 250 are fixed in the chamber to provide shoulders on which piston ring 236 will abut at the limit of its travel. In the shown fonm stop ring 248 is flanged to be clamped between the forward end of casing 194 and an external coupling member 252 which has a double O-ring seal 254 engaging boom 222 to seal one end of the fiuid chamber. The other stop ring 250 may be fixed to the internal surface of casing 194 such as by welding or any other suitable means. A bearing sleeve 256 is interposed between boom 222 and coupling 252. A similar bearing sleeve 258 is inserted between positioning tube 224 and a second coupling element 260 received about the rear end of casing 194. To seal chamber parts 240 on O-ring 262 is provided in rear coupling 260 and another O-ring 264 is inserted in a groove in piston ring 236 to seal chamber parts 238 and 240 from each other.

Thus far, it will be seen that boom 222 may be extended or retracted and also rotated to position brushes 25 on the aircraft surface. Brushes 25 may be further pressured against the aircaft suface by pivoting the brush assembly in a vertical plane about pivot pin 198. In addition to the foregoing, brushes 25 are rotatable during the washing operation. For this purpose brushes 25 are fixed on a shaft 266 extending at right angles to the longitudinal axis of boom 222. Brush shaft 266 is rotatably mounted in ball bearings 268 received in a T member 270 having a stem 272 fixed to the forward end of boom 222 for movement therewith. At the outer end of each ball bearing 268, a seal 274 and retainer ring 276 are provided to seal T member 270.

To rotate shaft 266 and in turn brushes 25, a drive tube 280 is rotatably mounted without positioning tube 224 and connected at its forward end by bevel gears 282, 284 to brush shaft 266. In the shown embodiment, gear 282 is pinned to a stub shaft 286 fixed in a coupling sleeve 288 which in turn is fixed to drive tube 280. Stub shaft 286 has an enlarged collar portion 290 abutting one side of a ball bearing 293 located between the stub shaft and T member 272. An internal shoulder 294 on the T member abuts the other side of bearing 292. Seals 296 and 297 are provided between stub shaft 286 and T member 272 and coupling sleeve 288, while another ball bearing 298 is provided between coupling sleeve 288 and boom 222.

Drive tube 280 is formed in two telescoping parts in order to accommodate movement of boom 222 between its extended and retracted positions. The forward drive tube part, which will be designated 280, is slidably received within rearward drive tube part 300 and keyed to it by means of a key 302 fixed to the rear drive tube part 300 to slide in a key Way 304 longitudinally formed in the forward drive tube part 280. Extending rearwardly from casing 194, the rearward drive tube part 300 is connected by any suitable coupling 306 to be driven by a hydraulic motor 307. Suitable bearings 308 are provided between the drive tube part 300 and the positioning tube 224.

The brush assembly is also equipped with means for dispensing a liquid detergent or other liquid substance for use in the washing operation. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, nozzles 310 are mounted above and below boom 222 through conduits 314 and 312 fixed to boom 222. Liquid substance is conveyed to fittings 312 and nozzles 310 for dispensing, by passage-through the interior of drive tube parts 280, 300'. Introduction of the liquid into the drive tube is through a suitable coupling 316 fixed about the rear end of drive tube part 300 to communicate with radial ports 318 opening into the latter. Exit of the washing liquid from forward drive tube part 280 is effected through radial ports 317 communicating with a coupling 319 'fixed with respect to boom 222 by nipples 320 and nuts 321, 322. Although not specifically shown, the power lines and supply conduits for the motors and the washing liquid are carried to the brush assembly from the arm.

We claim:

1. A brush assembly comprising in combination a casing, an elongated member, means mounting the elongated member in the casing for slidable movement along its longitudinal axis between extended and retracted positions and also for rotational movement about its axis, a cleaning brush, a brush shaft operatively connected to the cleaning brush to drive the same, and means rotatably supporting the brush shaft at the forward end of said elongated member for rotation about an axis extending at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the elongated member whereby the brush is rotatable with said elongated member about said longitudinal axis and rotatable relative to said elongated member about said second defined axis.

2. The assembly defined in claim 1 wherein said elongated member is hollow and there is further provided an elongated secondary drive member rotatably received in said first elongated member having means on its forward end operatively connected to said shaft to rotate the same.

3. The assembly defined in claim 2 further including means mounting the secondary drive member for longitudinal movement with said first elongated member between the extended and retracted positions thereof and also for rotation relative to the said first elongated member.

4. The assembly defined in claim 3 wherein said secondary drive member has a hollow interior for receiving a washing fluid, and wherein the assembly further includes conduit means communicating with the interior of said secondary drive member for dispensing washing fluid outwardly of the assembly.

5. The assembly defined in claim 1 further including two of said brushes respectively attached to the opposite ends of said shaft.

6. The assembly defined in claim 1 wherein said elongated member and said casing are generally cylindrical and there is defined a space between the casing and the elongated member and wherein there is further provided sealing means sealing said space to atmosphere, a fluid responsive actuating ring fixed with respect to the elongated member and received in said space to define two opposed ex pansible motor chambers, and a pair of ports respectively communicating with said chambers for supplying and exhausting them to move the actuating ring and in turn the elongated member between the extended and retracted positions.

7. The assembly defined in claim 2 further including a first telescoping tube rotatably received within said first elongated member and having means to be driven in rotation, means connecting the telescoping tube to said elongated member to rotate the elongated member while permitting the elongated member to move longitudinally between the extended and retracted positions relative to said tube.

8. The assembly defined in claim 7 wherein said last recited means includes an elongated key-way formed in one of said first elongated member and tube and a key fixed to the other of said first elongated member and tube and received in said key-way.

9. The assembly defined in claim 7 further including a second telescoping tube telescopingly received over said secondary drive member and means interconnecting said second tube and said secondary drive member to provide rotation together while permitting the secondary drive member to move longitudinally relative to said second tube.

10. The assembly defined in claim 9 wherein said last recited means includes a second elongated key-way formed in one of said secondary drive member and second tube and a key attached to the other and received in said key-way.

11. The assembly defined in claim 7 wherein said first telescoping tube extends outwardly of said casing and is there attached to a drive member connected to a motor to be rotated thereby.

12. The assembly defined in claim 1 wherein said secondary drive member has an inlet port communicating with its interior for receiving washing fluid.

13. The assembly defined in claim 2 further including a hydraulic motor means for rotating the secondary drive member.

14. A cleaning brush assembly comprising in combination, an elongated boom having at its forward end a brush, means mounting the boom for movement along its longitudinal axis as well as for rotation about its longitudinal axis, drive means for actuating the boom along its longitudinal axis including means defining a fluid chamber around the boom with the boom being movable through the fluid chamber, and a piston ring fixed to the boom and movable in the fluid chamber in response to pressure in the fluid chamber.

15. The brush assembly defined in claim 14 wherein said boom includes two telescoping members and wherein said piston ring is secured to one of the telescoping members to move it relative to the other telescoping memher in response to fluid pressure in the chamber.

16. The brush assembly defined in claim 15 wherein means for rotating the boom includes drive means operatrvely connected to said other telescoping member to drive the same, and a key means between the telescopmg members permitting relative longitudinal movement while coupling said one telescoping member to said other telescoping member for rotation together.

17:. The brush assembly defined in claim 16 further in- Cllldlng gear means connected to said other telescoping member externally of said casing member, said gear means being connected to said drive means.

18. The brush assembly defined in claim 14 further including support means underlying said boom and connected thereto to support the same, and drive means for pivoting the support means and consequently said boom relative to an associated control cabin including a fluid motor having a drive shaft operatively connected to an intermediate portion of the boom and with the fluid motor adapted to be anchored to the control cabin, and a strut secured between the fluid motor and said support means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1940 Sisman. 8/1963 Grant.

EDWARD L. ROBERTS, Primary Examiner 

